Co-op
by makesometime
Summary: Eventually she spies a familiar cover and digs down to reach it, pulling it out with a smile. She holds it up with a flourish, waiting for his approval.


Felicity can hear shouting as she descends the staircase, but it sounds different somehow to what normally greets her, the manly grunts and taunting that go hand-in-hand with Digg and Oliver training. The testosterone is nearly as stifling as the sweat hanging in the air at times like that, but the latter is mercifully lacking tonight.

Her heels ring out on the concrete to announce her entrance but neither man calls out to her in greeting. Felicity drops her bag next to the monitors on the desk and shrugs off her jacket as she looks about for the missing duo. Heard and not seen is rarely preferable with them and her curiosity is piqued by the continuing hollers and laughter.

She winds her way through the training equipment to where the sounds are coming from, rounding a corner to find her targets. They're sitting in front of one of the larger screens she put aside for possible future use and it appears to be rigged up to a console, some kind of computer-generated football game playing out in front of the boys.

She approaches slowly as Oliver cheers and punches the air, Digg hanging his head with a long-suffering sigh.

"Ugh, sports games." The pair of them turn to her almost immediately and she gives a little wave, coming to stand at Oliver's side. "Having fun?"

"You could call it that." Digg says as Oliver grins at her, satisfied.

"Really?" She asks. "Cos it kind of looks like he's kicking your ass."

Digg laughs at her words, holding up his hands in defeat. "I thought I might have an edge, seeing as he was stuck on an island for five years. I forgot poor little rich kids have nothing better than to play games all day."

Felicity smiles and unthinkingly puts her hand on Oliver's shoulder. It's an instantly horrible choice but she goes with it, especially when the man in question shoots her a fond little smile, a mixture of his odd brand of affection and a little 'aww shucks' at his easy defeat of poor Diggle.

Digg looks between the two of them and then gets to his feet with a secretive curve to his lips, putting the controller down on his seat. "I should get going. Got a date with Carly."

She and Oliver give him as easy a time as ever; Felicity grinning broadly and capturing her tongue between her teeth as Oliver whistles.

Digg rolls his eyes as he shrugs on his jacket. "Yeah yeah, you two have fun without me."

Neither of them watch him go, and it takes a moment for Felicity to realise what feels off about the atmosphere he's left behind. Her hand is still on Oliver's shoulder and he glances between her face and where she touches him with a carefully raised eyebrow.

Felicity recoils as if burned, skittering back guiltily. "So!" She says, voice too high, too unsteady. "You're taking a night off? No names to cross off, no people to threaten?"

Oliver looks at her with an irritatingly inscrutable expression before shaking it off, opening up to her again. "I thought it was about time."

Felicity skirts around him and falls into the chair beside him, deftly picking up the controller as she does so. "Does that mean I can relax too?"

"This place would fall apart without you Felicity." He says, unexpectedly earnest.

She crinkles her nose. "So… I can't relax too?"

Oliver laughs, settling back in his chair and returning his attention to the screen. "I didn't say that. Play a game with me?"

Her head spins a little, she has to admit, at the images those words evoke. "What kind of game… oh, right. Sports." She grimaces. "Yeah, I'm not really that good at this type of 'game'." She says, complete with sarcastic air quotes.

She sees the man beside her shrug, reaching towards the box that sits on the floor in front of him. He hauls it up into his lap and offers it up to her. "So choose something else. Tommy forced these on me, said I needed to work on my pop culture knowledge."

Felicity bites her lip, looking into the box in interest. "You're sure?"

Oliver huffs out a laugh. "I'm sure, otherwise I wouldn't have offered."

Felicity purses her lips to stop the retort that forms on her tongue and instead starts to rummage through the cases in the box. Most of them are single player only, of little use unless one of them feels like being the passive observer, a role that doesn't fit Oliver for long and one that she really doesn't enjoy. Eventually she spies a familiar cover and digs down to reach it, pulling it out with a smile. She holds it up with a flourish, waiting for his approval.

"Portal 2?" He queries.

"Yeah… it doesn't seem like something Tommy would play, actually." She frowns down at it. "But it has a really great co-op mode."

"Whatever you want, Felicity." Oliver smiles indulgently and there's a traitorous flutter in her stomach in response.

To disguise any hesitation that she might be feeling, Felicity gets to her feet and crosses to the console to switch over the discs. Once that's done, she turns back to the man behind her and catches the slight hint of his eyes shooting back up to her face from somewhere they shouldn't – and likely wouldn't – have been. She pauses, then realises it's all wishful thinking and retakes her seat beside him.

"Okay, the controls might take a bit of getting used to, but I'm sure you'll pick it up." She says, starting the game up.

Her eyes may be fixed on the screen but she senses his gaze flick from there to her. "I'm sure you'll be able to teach me."

Oh, she could teach him many things. At least half of them would get her fired on the spot…. so it's probably best not to think about that right now.

"It's all about teamwork." She says, impressed by the steadiness of her voice.

"Teamwork." Oliver repeats. "I think we can manage that."

#

Turns out they can't manage it. Not even a little bit.

After their fourth consecutive fail Felicity flops back in her chair, turning to look at him, searching for an answer as to why he can't grasp the basics of this game.

Oliver lets the action on the screen hold his attention for a moment longer until his half of the screen goes red and he lets the controller fall to the floor with a snarl.

"Come on Oliver, you should be great at this!" She laments, dropping the controller to her lap. "It's all about planning and strategy and timing; you know, all stuff that you're pretty good at?"

He scoffs and looks to the monitor once more, the scene almost still as it awaits their input. There's a hint of offense in his eyes, as if the game has committed some great betrayal of him.

Felicity snickers, crossing her legs. "Would you feel better if you put on the hood?"

Oliver's head whips back to her, his eyes narrowed at her gentle teasing. Her mind whirls a mile a minute with the frantic thought that he might actually be offended until he smiles, picking up his controller from the floor. "Okay. Let's go again."

The evening progresses and they gradually crack it, losing track of time as they progress through the game. They bounce ideas off each other as seamlessly as they do in the field, working together to get through each puzzle in turn even if it takes them more than a few attempts at each course. Felicity's cheeks hurt a little from grinning so much, and the initial tension coming off of the man soon starts to ebb away.

They're one step away from completing the penultimate course when Oliver drops the ball, getting too close to a laser. He curses heavily as Felicity sucks in a breath between her teeth, fighting the urge to laugh at his plight.

"Remind me to never let you do a laser room jewel heist."

"Felicity."

Ignoring the warning to his tone she turns to him, her eyes wide and, sure, maybe a little pleading. "One more go. I promise we'll get it this time."

"Felicity…"

"We're having so much fun! Just once mor-."

Her words die on her tongue as Oliver reaches up and cups her cheek, his palm impossibly warm against her skin. When he leans in she's sure she squeaks and then he's kissing her and it really doesn't matter, his lips surprisingly soft against her own.

His tongue darts along her lower lip and she sighs as she parts to him, allowing him to deepen the contact. He's really good at this, though that's sort of to be expected and it's really reassuring to know her mind can still dance in circles even when Oliver Queen is kissing her, his hand curled tenderly around the base of her skull.

She lets out a little whimper when he pulls away and flushes with embarrassment immediately, looking down at where her hands still clasp the controller in her lap.

"Felicity…" He says, a finger beneath her chin tipping her head up until she's looking at him. His eyes are warm and kind, making her insecurities melt away in a moment. "I can think of a hundred different ways that we can have fun right now, and none of them involve me sucking at video games."

She gives him a bright smile when he doesn't remove his hand, his fingers gently stroking over a spot on her neck that she sure as hell didn't know was sensitive before. "You don't suck at video games."

"I think we need to be honest with ourselves here." He chuckles. "I really, really do."

When his other hand falls to her knee, the heat of his touch dancing over her nerves, Felicity laughs too, if only to cover up the gasp that catches in her throat. "Okay. What do you have in mind?"

He's leaning in again before she can stop him – not that she would ever, ever consider this – smirk playing at the edges of his mouth. "I have a few ideas…"

"Really?" She asks, her voice oddly husky and terribly unlike herself (but he likes it, if the darkening of his gaze is anything to go by).

He hums in interest but doesn't reply, his mouth finding hers once more. Their second kiss is lighter, a weight lifted from both their shoulders as she moves with him, her hand finding his shoulder and clenching tight in the material of his shirt. He sucks at her lower lip and she smiles, tempting him back into pressing his tongue to hers.

When they part, she grins, the lingering uncertainty all but gone. "I like this idea."

Felicity can't remember the last time she saw him smile so much. "It's one I'm quite fond of." He agrees.

Her hand tightens in his shirt and she shifts in her chair. "If I might make a suggestion?"

He tilts his head in invitation. "By all means."

She surges into him with a grateful groan, Oliver gripping her waist and taking advantage of her overbalancing to tug her down into his lap. He laughs into her kiss, large hands spreading over her ribcage.

"Full of bright ideas, Miss Smoak." Oliver says against her lips, no longer willing to move away from her.

She is, it's one of the reasons she's so useful to him, why she's so valued at Queen Consolidated. But she doesn't tell him so because that would waste precious kissing time. And if she's not going to get her gaming fix, then that's simply not acceptable.


End file.
